Trustworthy
by TripGirl05
Summary: Not everyone is as they seem.... I'm telling no more. That would ruin the story! Chapter 3: Answers Far From Reach is now FINALLY up!
1. Default Chapter

The Disclaimer Page... and stuff....  
  
Title: Trustworthy  
  
Summary: The Delphic Expanse is a place of insecurity for the Enterprise crew, of uncertainty, but now more than before are they finding that honesty is a luxury, that truth and deception are so easily mistaken, and that trust is something of the past. Despite the blinders the crew has put on to focus on the sole objective of saving Earth, a sudden interruption to their mission forces them to reconsider what they assume to be laid out in black and white, and understand that not everyone is as they seem....  
  
Spoilers: None that I know of.... I'll have to say at the beginning of each chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: Let's see... where to start.... I really don't own much, so I can't exactly claim "Enterprise," can I? That would just be ridiculous. What I CAN claim are the Damissians, because they're actually mine. Every one of 'em. Isn't that great? ....... Not really.... I'll trade all of them in for Trip, please! Pretty please? No? ... Malcolm? I have more of them! Still no? Awww.... ;; (Pouty face) Fine....  
  
Author's Notes: This is set in the Delphic Expanse, but before "Chosen Realm." I'm only omitting everything from that point on for 2 reasons: 1- because I want to begin where there has actually been a lull in the Xindi Arc, that lull being "Carpenter Street," and 2- because I couldn't actually remember the next string of episodes and just how much I would be interfering with if I placed this story here. So to be safe, all of the episodes before and including "Carpenter Street" and all the information presented in those episodes is still relevant, but everything past that point never happened as far as this story is concerned. Especially not that Godawful ending. Thankfully there is a season four to explain and correct it. But anyway, on to the story.... 


	2. Chapter 1: Pursuit

Weeeee!!! A new fanfic! That's right... I'm baaaaaaaaaaack! So read and enjoy.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Pursuit  
  
Malcolm took each step slowly through the deserted corridor, darkened nearly to the black of the empty oblivion that stretched on to infinity outside the hull, his eyes straining through the darkness to catch a glimpse of any movement, his ears ringing with the terrible silence, each step an eternity as his boots clumped softly against the floor, resounding for a brief moment before fading into nothing. His breaths were silent, save for the moments when his shaking limbs and twitching muscles forced him to expel a heavy exhale, which he knew was not to his advantage, but even his best efforts to stop it from occurring were thwarted quickly. His heart was pounding so fiercely he could hear the blood coursing through his veins, hear the hammering in his ears amongst the ringing, even though he knew the corridor was ultimately silent- silent as death and dark as the grave.  
  
He swallowed the last bit of moisture in his mouth, leaving his throat and tongue desert dry and rough as sandpaper, and he tried not to allow his mind to blank, but the darkness flowed into his thoughts and drowned him in the stifling world of nothing, of waiting, of wandering slowly through this emptiness.  
  
A soft creaking snapped his senses back to their optimum and Malcolm's finger tightened on the trigger of his phase pistol, which he raised in preparation for whatever was to come, standing so still that he was sure he could feel the drifting of the ship, a corpse floating along on a current with no destination, no reason to continue onward.  
  
It wasn't long before he realized that the noise was the groaning of the hull, and found himself to be extremely relieved, despite the danger such a thing posed.  
  
Another step....  
  
Another step....  
  
One step at a time into an endless cavern into which one can only travel deeper.... A man could go insane fighting the immortality of darkness, of silence, of being alone and waiting for his thoughts to swallow him up into something much worse....  
  
He stopped.  
  
Trying not to lose sight of the direction he was traveling in, he turned his head to scan the corridor once more. The dim light was fading still, the reserve power being slowly drawn more and more to life support. His heart raced faster. He was running out of time.  
  
He caught sight of the stars and found his way, groping blindly, over to the wall. He hadn't wanted it to come to this, but it was his only option left. There was nowhere else for him to search. Keeping one hand on the metal and the other hand, the hand with his phase pistol, out in front of him, he advanced slowly, cautiously, moving around the metal additions that jutted suddenly out of the wall and then returning to his unseeing journey. He could hear his fingertips swishing softly against the metal until he at last reached an abrupt end.  
  
A door.  
  
With a moment's pause to question if it was truly the best choice of action, he grabbed hold of the metal handle and heaved the door open, finding it a bit difficult to do with one hand, but managed it in one swift try. As soon as it cracked open, his phase pistol immediately shot up at the ready and he pointed it straight inside, his eyes darting around the dark room and his ears honing in to listen for any minute noise; his obstructed- or rather, nonexistent- vision could not hinder his expertise in tactics. He listened intently, but heard no sound.  
  
Backing away cautiously, he tried to stifle the sound of his boots on the floor, and found himself back in the corridor once more. He exhaled a small breath of relief.  
  
Suddenly a hand shot out from the darkness and pulled Malcolm backwards. He started to pull away to take a shot, but found the sharp blade of a knife positioned a hair's width away from his throat.  
  
"Your search is over, Lieutenant."  
  
Ooooh.... Teaser. - v I love them so much... when I know what's going to  
happen....  
  
Okay, enough teasing- it's that time again! Review, everyone! pushes everyone toward the review button Go on... cliiiiiick. You want to click  
the button.... You WILL click the button.... The button is your friend.... 


	3. Chapter 2: In the Dark

Sorry this took so long, but I really dislike introductory chapters. I was stuck trying to make this chapter as tense as the first, but then, realizing I couldn't do that, I just settled for a basic uncanny feeling (not without its stressful moments), one that will surely lead into a much more sinister creepiness. ...I hope.

Anyway, this chapter came about with help from Keleshnar- thank you for your word suggestions- they really got me back to writing. Unfortunately, I didn't use any of them. ;;;; The ones you picked really do go nicely with the story, so I think I might use them next chapter. They were "Insinuate," "unbroken," and "jagged"- and "yclept," but I'm dodging that one because it scares me. Plus, I'm betting ¾ of the people out there have no idea what it means.

Anyway, read. Be on edge. Listen to creepy music. In the dark. Like the title says. ...Well, okay, do what you want, but read.

Chapter 2

In the Dark

[2 weeks earlier....]

"Captain-"

"I see it."

Archer stared out at the enormous debris field, the only remains of what they assumed to once have been a starship. Charred metal from the ghastly wreckage floated past wispy clouds of plasma writhing gracefully through the destruction like the lost souls of the crew trying desperately to return to their ship and make it whole again, make themselves whole again. He wondered just who exactly that crew was. He then looked past at the blue and brown planet below, so peaceful and undisturbed while the remains of the ship still floated, suspended in space and suspended in their minds. Had the inhabitants caused its destruction, or was it...? He turned to T'Pol.

"As far as we know, this was not a Xindi ship" -she turned her eyes down to read the rest of the collected data- "and I'm finding no readings that should lead us to believe that Xindi weapons fire had been the cause of destruction."

If Archer wasn't already preoccupied with thoughts of the destruction and the possibility of danger to his own ship, he might have found it somewhat interesting or humorous that she was beginning to know his questions before he ever even uttered a word. But there were more important things at hand to deal with.

"Any biosigns?"

T'Pol referred once again to her readings and quickly ran a second scan for little more than verification. She began to speak what she assumed to be the obvious answer, but then stopped when something caught her eye. She read her readings over carefully. "Captain.... There appear to be three life forms amidst the debris. Humanoid." She glanced up at him with curious eyes, then back down at her console. "...They are inside an escape pod.... Its hull is of the same composition as the destroyed ship."

Archer suddenly felt a leap in his chest and found the charge once again to take action.

"All three are unconscious," T'Pol continued, believing it best to supply the captain with all the information she could provide before he came to a decision on the matter. "...Their biosigns are weak, but they aren't critical condition."

"Malcolm, see if you can bring it into launch bay two, then assemble a security team and meet me there. T'Pol, I want you to contact Doctor Phlox and inform him that he's about to take in three patients. Hoshi...."

He at last looked away from the destruction on the screen and turned his eyes on her, and though it was difficult for Hoshi to completely comprehend it, she felt a slight chill run through her. Despite the understanding she had of the tense situations the crew had to deal with, she still felt slightly frightened by the lack of any sparkle, any enthusiasm, in her captain's eyes. It was all just duty and hurry there now. The life that was there had gone. Her captain was gone. Pushing back her discomfort, deciding that it was neither the time nor the issue at hand, she managed a "Yes, sir."

He nodded, and everyone went to their respective tasks.

[-]

The pod in the launch bay was of a dark gray color and retained a strange green tint- not similar to the oxidation of copper but alien, eerie. It was more a shimmer from the metal that would only appear when the light struck it just right, an unusual effect that caused each person there, when it was first noticed inadvertently, to immediately turn back, then squint and peer in every possible direction to find that same luster once more. Malcolm couldn't help but wonder what attributed to that feature.

Beside that, the pod looked not too far out of the ordinary; it was gracefully smooth and flowing, sharp at the edges, and contained very little writing, writing which seemed to snake in and out of itself as it ran from one character to the next. Hoshi was disappointed to find that the one or two words that were beautifully etched into the metal were not nearly enough to compile even a rudimental knowledge of their written language.

The captain found that the pause was enough to satisfy the curiosities of his crew and gain as much knowledge as the group there could about at least the very basics of this new people's technology, so he gave a nod to Malcolm, who then fumbled momentarily for a release button, tapped it, and cued a hiss as the door opened and oxygen poured into the lacking atmosphere of the pod.

Just as T'Pol's readings confirmed, three humanoid aliens were inside, sprawled across the floor, one even face down against a storage bin of some kind, and all very obviously unconscious. Their complexion was a light gray with a slight undertone of blue; their ears came to two points, one jutting up and back and the other just below the first; their hair was slightly below shoulder length, several strands of which were tied into complex braids adorned with beads of silver and aqua and a few red; and their clothes were robes of criss-crossing, overlapping material over simple trousers, each person's attire a different color. The alien currently atop the storage bin with silver blood pooling under his cheek was wearing a robe of a deep green shade with copper lining, the one closest to the helm was wearing maroon and gold, and the last was wearing a faded blue with silver.

Phlox pocketed the hyposprays he held ready in his hand to sedate any one of them if they had possibly been volatile. Seeing no need for it, he and his team of medical officers went to work to bring them safely to sickbay, scanners buzzing and slow, careful maneuvers being executed all the while by the wary medics.

As the aliens were brought out of the launch bay, Malcolm followed closely behind in case one of them decided to regain consciousness and cause trouble, which Dr. Phlox did not speak against even knowing that event to be not only highly unlikely but also extremely difficult to do were it to happen, since they were all suffering from concussions. Hoshi stayed back, however, to take another look at the pod. There was something she couldn't quite place, but it didn't settle right with her. With a small sigh of defeat, she turned and walked away from it, catching the smallest glimpse of that green shimmer again.

[-]

"Lieutenant," greeted Travis with a smile as he walked at a slightly quicker pace to catch up with Malcolm, who never seemed to take his time as he walked the corridors, no matter if he was in a hurry to find a weapon to defend himself or to get to the mess hall.

"Ensign," Malcolm replied, and though a smile hardly graced his lips, Travis could see the contentment gained for finding company hidden beneath duty and worry, even if it may have only been the slightest bit.

"Movie night tonight?"

"Every Tuesday," Malcolm said, more like repeated as he'd heard it said once before, for it sounded less like him and more like an echo. He always sounded like that when he was preoccupied with some matter.

"Good," Travis said with an air of satisfaction. "I was hoping the Captain wouldn't postpone it again because of what happened today. We've hardly had movie night at all since we started this mission. ...But everyone needs some kind of constant right now. The crew's on edge- and everyone knows it."

"I suppose," he said somewhat distantly as they turned a corner. "With all these uncertainties, as much as it seems to deter everyone from their duties, if we don't stop every once in awhile and take a moment to breathe, we'll all go crazy over it all...."

Travis couldn't help but hear "I" where Malcolm had strategically placed "we." There was just so much weighing down on everyone ever since they entered the Expanse, and Malcolm, who had subjected himself to that level of pressure ever since he had joined Starfleet, must have felt like he was halfway over the edge of sanity and far beyond what he had once assumed to be his breaking point, knowing with his entire existence that the armory was the single most important system on the ship for the duration of time they spent there, and that he had to be the one running it all. And Travis knew as well as anyone that though Malcolm did tend to enter that state of mind where his armory was top priority because the ship and its crew were top priority, at this point, everyone had to agree. Even Trip, who often insisted that his engines were top priority- something which caused its fair share of skirmishes between the two most strong-willed officers aboard Enterprise- probably wanted those weapons ready for use more than anyone right then.

Travis returned from his thoughts and decided it best to go off on a tangent. "Sir, have you been to sickbay today?"

He turned his head at last to face Travis. "No.... Why? Have you?"

"Mm-hm," he said, nodding.

Malcolm at last allowed a stifled grin onto his face, and he turned back to face the corridor ahead of him. "Knowing you, it was for no better reason than to get a look at these new visitors," he mumbled in good nature.

A large smile stretched across Travis's face. "Could you blame me?" He listened for a moment to the rhythmic sound of their footsteps, only a half of a beat off from being in step with one another. "I didn't get to go down to the launch bay, and I wanted to see who they were."

"I expected no less from you."

Travis laughed a bit, then paused in their conversation to smile at another ensign as she passed by, a young woman whom he often talked to briefly before she took her shift at the helm. But then Travis returned his attention to Malcolm and continued speaking to him about his newfound interest. "There're two males and one female, but that's all I could really tell about them," Travis went on, not really thinking to ask if this was something Malcolm already knew.

"They must be in pretty bad shape.... From what I saw in the launch bay, they were pretty low on oxygen."

Travis shook his head. "Phlox said mostly only minor injuries. He thinks they'll be conscious pretty soon, as long as his treatments work as they should."

[-]

Everything was black. There seemed a dim light from far away, barely able to turn the darkness into a slightly more maroon color, but a light nonetheless. He wondered how long he'd been unconscious, but didn't know if he had the strength to open his eyes to find that out. And, he thought, if everything spun as much as it was with his eyes closed, how much worse would it be when they opened? Pushing back his hesitance, he slowly let go of the darkness.

With a small wince, the world fuzzed back into focus- barely- and he could make out a monitor above him and dimmed lights far above that. A steady beeping could be heard, and as the images drifted back to him through liquid awareness, he discovered that he was not in any familiar atmosphere. Where... where is this? This isn't our shuttlecraft.... Who's taken us aboard?

He attempted to sit up, but his limbs felt heavy and faulty. He gathered his strength and tried again, this time succeeding, but he had to close his eyes to fight against the blinding pain that surged through his skull. He pressed the heels of his hands into his temples, hoping that somehow that would steady the swaying room, and, as his senses returned slowly, he heard the muffled sounds of a voice calling from not very far away, the voice sounding cottony and unclear. He looked up, wondering just who it was that was calling, and found that it was a dark woman in a one-piece navy blue uniform, not looking at all in his direction. He hadn't ever seen anyone that looked like her before, but with the room swimming as it was, it was difficult to determine that when he could barely make out much more than colors and basic shapes.

He slowly turned his eyes to where she was looking and found a heavyset man with dark green clothes of a much more civilian look, ridges covering much of his face, and standing by a communications panel on the wall, speaking to someone who wasn't in the room.

He turned back to the woman, and, as his eyes began to focus, at last noticed that, though she wasn't turned in his direction, the gun in her hand was.

Doctor Phlox had just finished announcing to the captain and Hoshi that one of the aliens had awoken when he heard a frightened cry from behind him. He turned quickly to see the maroon-robed alien man restraining Ensign Ravi harshly around the throat and pressing her phase pistol to the side of her own neck. She was struggling a little under his grip but doing nothing to try to break free, afraid that he would kill her first. She knew she had the weapon on stun, but at that range, and positioned where it was, it may as well have been set to kill.

Phlox concentrated his gaze on the man who was staring him down with cold yellow eyes, looking up through loose strands of hair which seemed longer with his head tilted slightly downward, and tried to keep his expression relatively calm. However, a bit of concern crept over his features as he began to move slowly backwards toward the wall.

He reached slowly behind him for the communications panel, but the alien shouted at him sharply and pressed the phase pistol firmly into Ravi's jugular, causing her to flinch away from the slightly painful pressure and let out a frightened whimper. Phlox slowly recoiled from his action, not exactly disappointed in being unable to call for help; he knew from the start it was most likely to fail.

Phlox continued to watch him, wait for a moment of weakness or some clue to one, but one did not exist. The alien seemed to sense that discovery, and his eyes glinted with the understanding that he had control. He took that moment to gesture toward the stars out the window with a small tip of his head.

Phlox didn't need to be a linguist to realize that he wanted out.

But more than that, he wanted a means of escape- a shuttlepod. Phlox felt a little relief flutter through his chest. Those pods had no weapons and no warp drive, and even if he couldn't stop him from leaving, Enterprise could. But then the relief dissipated and sank into dread. There was still a crewman in danger, and Phlox could tell by the look in this man's eyes that he planned on taking her along- and killing her if his opposition tried to stop him.

The plan was flawless.

Phlox sighed quietly in defeat, and those yellow eyes sparkled in triumph when the alien saw that Phlox knew of his full strategy. With only a moment's pause, Phlox nodded slowly and walked somberly toward decon, which would eventually lead to the launchbay, knowing he would not be followed if he led the man right into the busy corridor. The man was too smart to do that.

Phlox tapped the button to open the door, then waited, but the alien just stared at Phlox coolly and stood where he was. He wanted Phlox to lead the way. The doctor understood this and began his walk to the launchbay. He listened to the other two's footsteps behind his, Ravi's quickened and erratic, for she was being mostly dragged along, walking two steps for every one of his when her captor gave her the time to lift her feet, and the alien man's steps trying to be as even as Phlox's, but awkward from pulling his hostage along.

As Phlox reached the end of the decon chamber, something occurred to him. He slowly and briefly glanced over his shoulder to see exactly where and how the others stood, then reached for the panel on the wall that separated that room from the next: the small room between decon and the launchbay. A moment went by when he held his breath in apprehension, knowing that if this man's plan went through any further than that point, it would succeed. Phlox quickly and silently tapped a few keys and then struck a button that caused blue fluorescent lighting to abruptly illuminate the room in a bright glow. Surprised at the sudden change, the alien man jolted and snapped around, the moment Phlox needed to swiftly remove from his pocket the hypospray still with him and press it to the side of the man's neck to administer the sedative. And, though Phlox hadn't exactly meant to do so, he was thankful that his slightly faulty aim also caused his arm to smack the gun from the alien's grip- and, quite efficiently, free Ensign Ravi as a result.

For a moment the man wavered on his feet while the sedative began to take effect, slightly surprised that he had not succeeded in escaping and slightly apprehensive of what would happen next as a result of that failure, then slowly sank to the floor and collapsed.

Phlox let out a shaky breath and all of the fear and tumult that went on inside him along with it. He pressed the button behind him once more to shut off the blue lighting, feeling as though his arm was weighted down by the stress of all that had gone on in just a matter of minutes, then turned to the somewhat shaken woman nearby him. "Are you alright, Ensign?"

She took in a deep breath and nodded quickly, as if to get it over with.

Leaving the man in decon, they began their return to sickbay, Phlox stopping for a moment to lock the doors with the quick input of a code.

"Phlox! What happened?" asked a voice from behind just as he heard the lock come into place.

He turned to see Captain Archer with Hoshi beside him, who had most likely hurried in only moments ago to find that no one else was there.

"We've had a bit of a development in the situation," Phlox began, a bit of exhaustion from the excitement creeping into his voice.

Archer couldn't help but detect how much distaste he had for those words. Then he peered into decon at the alien man unconscious on the floor. Yes, he really detested those words. It never meant anything good. "Did he attack you?" he asked, his voice low and seemingly unconcerned. His voice held far too much anger and cynicism to convey care.

Phlox just let it be, as he always did, and just gave his response. "He attacked Ensign Ravi. In an attempt to escape."

Archer nodded, the large frown over his lips becoming much more prominent. He looked from Phlox to Ravi, then back to Phlox again. "I want him in the brig."

"Captain," the doctor started, "he still needs to be treated for several fractured ribs and a concussion, the decon chamber will be sufficient in holding him for-"

"It doesn't seem to me like those injuries were bad enough to stop him from trying to kill one of my crew," Archer interrupted icily.

Phlox said nothing, despite the harshness of his captain's comment and the swarming doubts that went through his mind of the man's intentions behind his actions.

"I want him in the brig," he repeated with severity in his quiet tone. "And I want security posted outside these doors in case one of them" -and the bitterness saturating the word made it even more clear he meant the other two now highly unwelcome guests still unconscious on biobeds- "tries something like what just happened." Then he turned and left Sickbay, jabbing the button for the doors, and barely giving them a chance to open before hastily leaving in a rage of anger.

{End Chapter}

Well, I wanted it to be a little longer, but it seemed a good place to end for now. Sorry that up until now, when I put in my new bracket and blurby thing, there was no way to see when each scene changed (because apparantly, FF.N no longer accepts my asterixes...ses? Stary things!). Oh, and sorry everyone that the WOMAN was taken hostage- I really didn't want to give into that stereotype, but I really wanted to put a female in the tactical field for once (a NON-MACO female), even if that meant she had to be pulled into being captive as well.

Well, the hypnotic, Jedi-like thing seemed to work last time, so I might as well go for it again. clears throat ...You see the review button.... You like reviewing, you think to yourself.... You click the review button.... It makes that cool click-y noise.... You feel the urge to review....


	4. Chapter 3: Answers Far From Reach

I'm not gonna lie- I suck for not updating. Forgive me? Please?

Unfortunately, this chapter is a short one, and it has to set up a lot. Next chapter is a moving-along-in-the-plot chapter. …Not necessarily that this chapter is NOT, but I wouldn't outright call it progression. Enjoy anyway!

Chapter 3

Answers Far From Reach

The doors to the brig opened with a swish, and Captain Archer entered, his eyes set and serious, his face dropped into a disappointed frown, the usual trace of anger finding its way to fit in with his expression. He took in a breath and at once hated the smell, the taste, the feel of it. What it was that made the air so stale was a mystery to him. He knew it wasn't the oxygen recyclers... or maybe it was. The brig's lack of use up until this point in time may have meant that such a thing went unattended. Then again, it may have just been the utter contempt for this man that sickened him just to breathe the same air.

Archer saw him there, sitting slouched forward with his elbows on his thighs and his hands hanging loosely in front of him. His face had not changed since Archer's entrance, and he didn't show a sign of awareness or care. His only expression was a blank solemnity. Even as Archer reached the door and stared at him through the slightly obstructed windows, the man did not look up. Archer was incensed even more by this, disliking that the man had no respect for authority, no bother to express understanding for the situation he was in. But then again, Archer thought with unencumbered venom, why should he expect the man who showed no concern for the lives of this crew to show any concern for its captain, or his own life for that matter?

As he awaited the right time to begin speaking to this disgrace of a being, he found that he was grateful that Hoshi had been able to compile his species's language into the UT database solely from the logs that were stored in the pod's computer; he knew he wouldn't have had the patience to sit and wait until they could understand one another. Archer jabbed the button to the comm., staring at the alien with the spark of a growing fire behind his hazel eyes. At first he couldn't find the words to speak, any way to say as eloquently as possible: "You bastard, you'll be lucky if I don't kill you for what you did!"

Keeping his gaze from meeting even the slightest sight of the detained alien, Archer was able to keep some of his anger in check. "You endangered one of my crew," he stated simply, but venomously nonetheless.

The alien said nothing, his only response that same blank, distant frown that remained on his face. He barely acknowledged that he was being spoken to.

"For that you don't deserve this much," Archer further stated, knowing that he truly would rather decompress the room and let this man that than keep him contained in the brig until questions were answered.

The man didn't even move, and Archer felt the flames growing in intensity and causing his blood to boil.

"You may as well speak now, because I don't intend to give up," Archer informed him hatefully.

Again, nothing but the hum of the warp engines far off in the distance.

Archer turned to the man, becoming sick of this tiring game of questions and then silence. "You have nothing to say?"

The man stared down at the floor. "What is there to say?" he growled.

Archer approached the partition in one angry step. "An explanation might be in order."

The man sneered, but then returned to being silent.

Archer shook his head, then turned and left the room, sensing the futility of his interrogation. It was far from over, and he was far from resigning his attempts, but all the determination in the universe wouldn't force someone with the same strength of resolve to speak. He would just have to wait for another time.

>>>>>>>>>>

Hoshi hesitated. The corridor was empty, but she couldn't know for sure how long she could remain unseen. There was no guarantee that no guards stood inside the room, even if none were on duty outside. She peered around cautiously, her hand raising slowly through the chilly air and the grayness of the lighting that submerged everything beneath a haze. She felt her heart flutter nervously as her fingers reached the button on the wall.

She stood a moment, waiting guiltily. She would be snooping... But could she just turn away? When she was the only one who knew?

She pressed the button down, watching the door slide open with a hushed exhale and the room fade into focus, stretching toward her in an ivy blur and then reaching out like vines to take her.

She found herself beside the shuttlepod, its odd metallic shimmer so eminent it became a smell and a taste that poisoned her mouth. She fought against the sick feeling in her stomach and opened the hatch.

It's here, she thought, It's here. I have to find it...

She climbed through the door and threw aside the pilot's chair so that it spun to the other end of its track, her eyes darting over every inch of the floor.

It's in here, I just know it.

She looked up to the compartments above her head and began tearing through them, prying open the doors and scooping every item inside onto the floor. Not there, not there, not there...

Her eyes shot over to the other side of the pod. It had to be.

She took hold of the lid of the crate, still stained with silver blood from which a new caustic smell rose, and heaved it off. She searched fervently through the bin, throwing item after item out onto the floor. Her arms burned and prickled with the sudden exertion and her growing fatigue, but she could not stop. No matter how late it was, no matter how much she had to destroy, she needed to find it.

"What are you doing here?" a voice from behind demanded hatefully.

Hoshi gasped and snapped around, looking up to see golden yellow eyes burning through the darkness. The shadow to which they belonged loomed above her like a part of the blackness incarnate. She struggled to sink into the crate and into the floor, now covered in the things she had thrown there, but she could not get away.

The eyes flared with anger at what she had done and what she was going to do. "I won't allow it!" he thundered, and with arms outstretched to her neck, Hoshi watched in terror as he crashed down upon her.

Hoshi awoke violently, kicking and swinging her fists at the air where she was still imagining her attacker to be. Eventually her struggle faded into terrible shaking, and though her heart was pounding so badly she wasn't sure if it would burst through her chest, she managed to quickly turn on her lamp and push the darkness away.

She curled up in bed and struggled for breath, but her mouth and lungs didn't seem to want the air. Every swallow sickened her stomach, for she could still taste the bitter flavor of metal in her mouth.

Hoshi entered sickbay, her eyes heavy with sleep and her limbs shaky with fright. She saw Phlox checking on the two unconscious aliens and felt her blood drain from her body. Yet Phlox smiled as usual when he saw her enter (it were as though he never looked at his patients' faces when they first arrived), and asked over the hum of his medical scanner, "What's troubling you, Ensign?"

She sat down on a biobed as far away from the aliens as was possible and murmured, "I just need a sedative to get to sleep."

Phlox pocketed the scanner and stole a glance at her before shuffling to gather a hypospray and setting it to the correct dosage. But as he returned, he noticed the young woman looked more ragged and distraught than one who simply hadn't slept. "...Is there anything you'd like to speak with me about?"

She shook her head softly and pulled a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "It was just a stupid nightmare."

He gave her a skeptical look, friendly as it was. "If you truly believed that, then you would have had no trouble getting back to sleep without this sedative."

Hoshi looked off at the unconscious aliens and felt that weakness in her once again. She supposed it would do her good to get her dream out to another person, and maybe then to analyze it with his help. After all, if she could just understand it, break it apart and then put it back together like she did with every new language she encountered, the dream would frighten her much less. ...Or maybe the message within the dream would reveal itself to be more frightening. If that were the case... well... she didn't know what exactly that would mean for her.

Despite her worries, she settled upon attempting an understanding. She told Phlox her dream, and wasn't surprised to see him listening to her as though he were listening to a patient's symptoms. She watched him take in and analyze every occurrence like it all added up to something sensible, and when she finished, she decided to end quietly on a thought that had bristled in the back of her mind since she awoke.

"I don't know what I was looking for... but my subconscious seemed to."

Phlox nodded, then unfolded to the ensign a building notion in his mind. "Have you considered the idea that what you were searching for was rather a... a representation?"

Hoshi tried not to be impolite or allow her body language to show the great obviousness of that statement, for whenever Phlox made a comment as well-known that one, he tended to follow it up with something more challenging to wrap one's mind around. However, she managed to give her thoughts away with some look she couldn't manage to stifle.

"I do realize that it is well-known that dreams are only symbols- rarely ever anything but," he explained, sensing her disappointment in his lacking words. "My statement was merely addressing that you so far have taken the events of your dream very literally. And proposing that you may be searching for not an item but an answer."

Hoshi blinked. "An answer?"

Phlox nodded once. "Isn't there something you have been questioning? Something on your mind that has been distressing?"

A flash went through Hoshi's mind, then her thoughts fell into nothingness. Her eyes dropped to the floor. For a moment she had been certain she knew exactly what it was she was trying to find in her dream, but it was smudged out by her own mind. "...For a second I almost had it..." she admitted.

Phlox waited patiently for her to either make progress in discovering what it is that was just beyond her grasp, or speak once again in search of another push towards the answer.

Hoshi then shook her head. "But it's more than just that." She looked up at Phlox and sighed. "I know I was looking for an actual THING. ...What it was, I don't know. But it's real."

Phlox slowly got up from the biobed. "...Unfortunately, Ensign... that I cannot help you with. All I can suggest is that you know what it is you're looking for before you attempt to find it."

Hoshi nodded. That went without saying. She and even her subconscious knew that unauthorized snooping would lead to some big trouble.

She followed the doctor in standing as well, and walked over to where he stood checking the remaining two aliens' vitals on the screens behind them. "...How long before they wake up?" she asked cautiously.

"Within twenty-four hours."

She wasn't sure whether that would be a good thing or something dangerous, but she kept those thoughts to herself. If Phlox was so certain of the calm awakening of the next two aliens that he had Reed remove all posted armory crew from Sickbay- had that much assurance that he would not be putting himself in danger- then Hoshi could have some faith in her own safety. Then again... the two armed guards OUTSIDE sickbay returned that fear to her.

She could only hope Phlox knew what he was doing.

>>>>>>>>>>

Let's go back to the Jedi thing. That seemed to work, so maybe now when everyone's angry at me for taking so long…. clears throat …You see the review button…. …You suddenly forget that you hate me for not updating…. …"I would LOVE to say something nice about this chapter" you think….


End file.
